Death Eaters Desirable
by Kate-chan15
Summary: [SET IN HBP] Harry believes that Draco has joined the Death Eaters; he manages to convince Hermione to infiltrate the life of Draco Malfoy to find out whether or not he is a Death Eater. Things go wrong, though, when love gets in the way, and Hermione realises her mistake. Will she be able to help him, or just ruin him further? Send him retreating into darkness once and for all?
1. Chapter 1

He frowned at her, feeling betrayed and slightly nauseated. He couldn't believe it. "You were _using _me?" he asked her. She was staring at him, wishing she could go back and never agree to Harry's plan. Draco took a loud breath in, "You never actually liked me, did you? You were just using me all this time."

Hermione stuttered, "N-no," she said, her eyes wide, "Well, yes- at first! I mean, I _was_ using you, but I like you now! I-I- Draco, where are you going?" Draco had turned and left the Library. Hermione stood from her seat and followed him. They were in the corridor outside the Library when Hermione caught up with him; his legs were much longer than hers, and his strides were long and determined too. "Draco, don't go- don't leave like this!" she was crying, and hearing the sob in her voice was the only thing that made him stop and look back. She stopped too, a safe distance from him. "Draco, I _didn't_ like you… but I do now. _Please_ don't leave like this." Her pleas came more from her eyes than her voice.

Draco sighed, looking down at his feet, "Hermione, I can't do this right now." he looked at her, and she knew she had lost him. She wished she could go back; stop herself from lying to him. She wished she could go back and not use him, like they both knew she had. But, in a way, she was glad she had used him, because if she hadn't, she never would have gotten to know him; she never would have fallen in love with him, and never would have experienced the bliss of being in love.

"Okay," she told him, drying her tears with the backs of her hands. She understood that there was no excuse for what she had done, and nothing she could say to him would lessen the hurt she had caused him. "I'm sorry, Draco. I'm sorry for doing this to you." He nodded, his lips fixed in a straight line as he strode away from her, his fists clenched at his sides. "I love you, Draco." She said, not raising her voice, and not knowing whether or not she hoped he had heard her.

It was the first time he had heard those words from her, and he wanted to turn and embrace her, kiss her, say the words back to her. But he didn't. He kept walking, and when he got back to his room in the Slytherin dorms, he took a shower, and let the water wash his tears away.

He tried to forget she even existed.

He tried to forget that he loved her.

It didn't work very well though.


	2. Chapter 2

"_Draco Malfoy_," Harry said the name like an epiphany, "I can't believe I never thought of this before!" Harry was up on his feet, pacing the length of the common room. His steps were uninterrupted because- other than the _golden trio_- the common room was deserted. All the other Gryffindors were asleep at this time of night, which gave Harry, Ron and Hermione the perfect opportunity to plan their next step. Harry, it seemed, had had a light-bulb moment, and he wasn't sparing a moment to let his friends in on the secret. "It's so _obvious_," he mumbled under his breath, expressing his exhilaration with rushed hand gestures, "Why didn't I think of this _weeks_ ago?"

Hermione and Ron met each other's eyes, and Ron shrugged. He was used to his friend doing this; coming to a conclusion and then thinking it through in his brain, rather than sharing it with him. Hermione was frowning disapprovingly at Harry, "Harry, would you _please_ sit down and talk to us?" she was impatient at the best of times, and she was tired enough as it was. She wasn't in the mood to deduct Harry's bizarre mood swings.

Harry fell down beside her, grinning, "Malfoy is up to something- _I know he is_." His legs were crossed, and he was leaning back on his arms. "He's joined them." He said dramatically.

Ron's eyebrows were furrowed as he frowned at his friend, questioning the other boy's sanity, "What?" he asked, "What is he up to? And who is _"he"_?" Ron scowled; he may be used to being left out of Harry's brilliant moments, but that didn't mean he didn't get extremely aggravated at them. Ron was just happy that the 'brain' of their group was left out too. "And what do you mean by _them_."

Hermione frowned, "I assume _he_ is Draco Malfoy." She said slowly, "What are you thinking, Harry." She hated the suspense she was under; she wanted to go to sleep.

Harry rolled his eyes, as if the answers to their questions were obvious, "Draco Malfoy has joined the Death Eaters." He widened his eyes to prove that he wasn't joking. Harry was expecting his friends to suddenly brighten- _'oh!' 'of course!'_. He didn't get that reaction though, instead…

Hermione rolled her eyes.

Ron scoffed, "As if." A smirk tugged at Ron's lips.

Harry's jaw dropped, but he quickly moved to defend his allegation, "His father is a _death eater_. It only makes sense!" he exclaimed.

Hermione shook her head, smiling, "Honestly, Harry, I thought you might have gotten a _real_ idea." She laughed, "Come on, we're all tired. We'll start again in the morning. We don't need to stay up thinking of impossible scenarios." She got to her feet and, with a yawn, so did Ron.

Harry jumped up immediately, "No- I'm right!" Hermione shushed him, and with a sheepish smile, he lowered his voice, thinking of the sleeping Gryffindors upstairs. "Hermione, it is the only excuse!" his voice is practically pleading. "Look me in the eyes and tell me it's impossible."

Hermione hesitated.

Ron laughed, "It's _impossible_." He said for Hermione, still smirking, "Malfoy is useless. I doubt Voldemort would want anything from _Malfoy_." He started t walk to the stairs, but stopped when he realised that Harry and Hermione's eyes were still locked.

Hermione bit her lip, "Fine, it isn't _impossible_," she allowed, "And I get what you mean, Harry, Draco is doing- _something_, but I don't think he is a Death Eater. That is a really serious thing, Harry, and I am almost certain that _the dark lord-_" she said the name like mockery, "- isn't enlisting unexperienced students." She shook her head, crossing her arms, "We don't have time to waste on pointless leads." She shrugged.

Harry's jaw set stubbornly and Hermione groaned; she knew that expression. It was the '_I-am-determined-to-do-this-so-you-won't-be-able-to-reason-with-me_' look, and when it came to Harry, there really _was_ no reasoning with him- not when he had set his mind on something.

She frowned, "Fine." She wouldn't waste any more time arguing; she was going to go to sleep while she still could. "We'll start planning tomorrow, but right now," she yawned, "I'm going to bed. Good night, boys." She waved half-heartedly and Ron watched her climb up to the girls' dorms. Harry was already going up to the boys'. Ron followed Harry, grumbling about how it was all a waste of time.

Harry hadn't slept that night. Instead, he had stayed up all night long, brain storming on his own. When he came down to breakfast the next morning, there were dark shadows beneath his eyes, but he was grinning, "I have a plan." He had told Ron and Hermione, and as he devoured some toast, he explained his plan.

"Hermione, you'll try and befriend the snake." _The snake_, Hermione realised quickly, was Draco's codename. Hermione scoffed at that step, but let her friend continue. "When you are close to him, you get a look at his wrist. Either he'll have a dark mark, or he wont. If he doesn't, you get out of there, and we'll figure out what we do next… if he does, I guess we do the same." Harry waited for the praise that was never going to come.

Ron let out a booming laugh, making a few nearby first-years flinch, "Are you out of your bloody mind?" he asked, his voice amused, "You think _the snake_ is gonna be interested in friendship with Hermione? Do I really need to remind you of all the horrible things he's said about her?" Ron shook his head, "This might be your worst plan yet, my friend, and that is including the whole _spider-forbidden-forest_ thing in our second year." He paled at that particular memory.

Hermione's lips tilted upwards in a smiled, "Ron's right, Harry. Malfor wouldn't want to be friends with a mu-" she couldn't bring herself to say the word. _Mudblood_, she thought, _mudblood, mudblood, mudblood_. "With someone like me." She picked her words carefully. "Also," she said indignantly, "How come it's _me_ who would have to do that- why not you or Ron?"

Harry shrugged, "The snake hates me and Ron more than he hates you. And we can't exactly hire someone else to join our little mission, can we?" Hermione grimaced. "Plus, you could use your…" Harry suddenly became very flustered, "_feminine charm_…"

Hermione blushed bright red immediately- as did Ron (not that anyone noticed)- and exclaimed, "Harry!" her eyes were round and wide, "As if I would!" she frowned at even the notion, "First of all, that is sexist and degrading." She glowered at her friend, who looked to be wishing that the ground would swallow him up. "Second of all, do I look like the type of girl who knows how to use _feminine charm_?" she rolled her eyes.

She had refused to even _consider_ the plan. But then a week passed, and Draco acted more and more suspicious. Hermione found that not only was her curiosity building, but so was her sense of dread. She had realised that Draco might not be as "_useless_" to Voldemort as Ron had believed. He was a source of knowledge for Voldemort; he knew where Harry was; he could keep tabs on the staff (and Harry)… Draco might start following them; making sure that Voldemort was always two steps ahead. This could be bad- _really bad_.

She fell into the seat opposite Harry- and next to Ron- at dinner and sighed, "I'll do it." she said. She had tried _so hard_ to think of another plan, but she couldn't. "I'll follow your plan, Harry." Her eyes narrowed on Draco, "I think you're right. He's been acting _weird_." She grimaced. "This might be our only chance to find out before Malfoy starts thwarting our plans."

Harry grinned, happy that his plan was _finally_ being taken seriously, "Okay, good," he said, "We can plan it tonight in the common room, and start tomorrow- if you are up for that?" he looked at Hermione nervously; she nodded. "Thank you, Hermione." He smiled warmly at his friend.

Ron looked between them both for a minute, and then gasped, "Wait a minute…" he mused, "Are you talking about that insane plan from the other day?" Ron looked appalled, "I thought we all agreed it was stupid- and _insane_."

Harry frowned, disgruntled, "Well, I didn't agree." He said sulkily.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I know, Ron. Believe me, no one wants to do this less than me, but I think Draco is doing _something_, and I'll be able to rest easy again if I know for certain that there isn't a death eater inside Hogwarts.

Ron frowned, "I'm not happy with this." He stated, as if that wasn't obvious, "Hermione, what if he hurts you?" Worry shapes Ron's features.

Hermione shrugged, "I guess that's a risk I'm gonna have to take." She started to eat her dinner, and spotted Ginny on her way to the table,, "Look, Ginny's coming. We'll meet later in the common room tonight to talk about this more."

The boys only had time to nod once before Ginny sat down next to Harry, smiling pleasantly, "Hey, guys."


	3. Chapter 3

He was sitting in the library, alone at a wooden table, surrounded by three empty wooden chairs. He jumped when she sat next to him- actually _jumped_, as if he had been burnt by an open flame, or seen a ghost. His eyes were different when he was surprised; wide and round and uncharacteristically open in their silver depths. It was almost intriguing. He recovered quickly though, and his lips pulled into a scornful sneer, "What is it, _Granger_?" he said the name in the same tone he used when he called her a '_mud-blood_' and she ignored the flinch the voice promoted along her spine.

Hermione's hands were fists at her sides, and she hoped he didn't notice. Her smile was _so clearly_ false, but he didn't notice that- he seemed even more unnerved by it; she caught another glimpse of his startled, round eyes before they hardened to grey cement again. "I wanted to talk," she rolled her eyes and tried to pretend she was talking with Harry or Ron. When she looked at her hands, she almost succeeded, but Harry's eyes never made her feel as if she were on trial for a hideous crime; Draco made her feel as if she was _guilty_. "Why else would I be here?"

Draco didn't have an answer for that, since this was as unexpected as it was confusing. Hermione was wearing light blue jeans, a green t-shirt, a black knitted cardigan and black plimsolls. Her brown hair was massively curly, and it fell over her shoulders and made her face look small and pale. He watched her like he would watch an animal at a circus; with vague anxiety and even vaguer contempt.

Hermione rolled her eyes at him, smiling and trying to get comfortable; it was difficult, though- under his sharp gaze. She looked up at him, "Look, I get that this is weird," she frowned when he scoffed, giving her a look that asked, '_really, you really think so?'_ Hermione rolled her eyes, "But we're getting older, you know," she sounded very much like her mother- or worse, _his_ mother, "We should be _mature_," she looked into the distance, as if she were trying to look mature, "How about we leave this silly unfriendliness behind?"

Draco stared at her still, his brows low on his pale face, "Excuse me?" he didn't mean it politely- or even impolitely! He just felt confused, and that was rather infuriating.

Hermione looked away- at her hands- with a grimace; _maybe he wouldn't go for it… oh, Merlin, she had known this was a mistake right from the start! Why did she do it? _Her mind was racing with uncertainty. _Just get out,_ she told herself, _make an excuse and pretend this never even happened!_ She swallowed and turned back to Draco. He still looked like a complete moron- a _caveman_, with that _Neanderthal_ expression. "You know what, never mind me." She stood up, making for an exit. "Great talking with you, Draco- _really_," Well, that was a bold-faced lie. "Bye," his eyes were slightly rounder.

"Hey, wait a second," Draco had stood up. His face was a little bit red, and he looked nervous. He was wondering to himself, _who does she think she is? The Good Samaritan? Acting so pretentious and superior. _He frowned at her; he could be just as pretentious and superior- he had been _raised_ to be pretentious and superior. Without meaning to, he puffed his chest out a little, "Yes, well," he began, his lips slightly twitching upwards- he tried his best not to sneer. "You're right. We're old enough to get over that sort of thing." he looked at her, _trying_, now, to look down his nose at her; it added to the effect. "Friends?" at her surprised expressions, he felt warmth creeping up his neck and along his arching cheekbones; he grimaced, "Or, rather, _acquaintances_."

Hermione nodded quickly, _was he purposely trying to sneer? If so, that certainly contradicted his words_. She cast that thought aside and smiled at him in a manner she genuinely _hoped_ was kind. "Great." She said, "_Acquaintances_, it is." She grinned at him. "Alright, see you later," they both waited to see what she would call him, and she felt the name burn in her throat like nail polish remover, "_Draco_." She ducked out of the library then, and just outside, she leant against the wall and tried not to gag. Being _nice_ to Malfoy seemed wrong on every level. She didn't like it.

Draco watched her leave with a frown. He shrugged, _how strange_.

Harry was eager to hear about the results of their latest _experiment_, but Hermione said that she didn't want to risk anyone hearing and getting the wrong idea, so they would discuss it later that night, in the Gryffindor common room when their Gryffindor housemates were sleeping. Still, all through dinner the boy was practically bouncing with curiosity and excitement. Hermione almost told him to stop being annoying, but Ron beat her to it.

"Bloody hell, mate, calm down." The red haired boy laughed, uneasy, looking around nervously. He was worried, like Hermione, that someone would overhear them, and know what they were doing. He dreaded the thought of someone using the information to blackmail them, or worse, wanting to join the group.

Harry stopped bouncing, but he was still grinning; Hermione and Ron decided that this was the best they could get. Harry looked at Hermione, expectant, and asked, "So, what happened? Tell us everything."

Ron laughed, "You sound like some chick wanting to know about her first date." He commented, amused.

Harry sent a sideways glare at Ron, and then turned his attention back to Hermione, who sighed.

She had been holding it off- telling them about her and Draco's exchange, that is- and she didn't really know how to say it. It felt like such a giant event in her life; how could she summarise? Nodding to herself, she began, "I went to the library, and I sat next to him. He was like, "What is it, Granger?" And I said, I want to talk. So I did. He actually listened—"

"That's a first," Ron muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes. Hermione rolled her eyes too.

She continued, "—So I said, since we're getting older, we should try to be more mature. We should leave the unfriendliness in the past—"

"And he bought that?" Harry interrupted her this time, his eyes incredulous and unbelieving. His childhood nemesis couldn't have been _that _easy to persuade, could he?

"Well, not at first," Hermione acknowledged, "I realised that he wasn't going to agree, so I decided to give up. I didn't want to be there when the rumours started circulating, you know?" Harry looked frustrated, but he nodded. "And then he said we're old enough to get over that sort of thing, and he said, _Acquaintances?_ And I said yes. So that's it. I left the library, and… yes." She wasn't quite sure what to say. She had told them what had happened, but she almost felt that she shouldn't say some of it; it almost felt private and personal, and it had been a long time since she had had anything private from Harry and Ron. "It was weird though," She said, "Either he was trying to be weird and superior, or he just didn't know _how _to be nice." She frowned.

Ron laughed, "Probably the second one, Mione," He said, "I don't think Draco has ever been nice- _ever_." Harry smiled, agreeing with his best friend.

Hermione tried to smile.

"I guess we should get to planning step two, then." Harry said. "We need to get _you_," He looked at Hermione, "Close enough to Malfoy, that you can get a look at his wrist." He frowned, "You might have to pretend to be more than friends with him, Hermione."

Hermione laughed, "No way in hell, Potter."

Harry frowned, understanding that there wasn't much point in going on with that point; he couldn't blame her, and he felt bad for even _suggesting _it. Ron looked absolutely sickened by the idea. He glared at Harry, though the malice was directed not at his friend, but at Malfoy.

"Well, it's been a _long _day. I'm going to bed. Good night." Hermione was already halfway up the stairs when Harry and Ron called '_night'_ up to her.

Ron smiled, "I'm gonna go to bed too, mate." He said, standing up from where he had been sitting with his back against a sofa. His legs were aching from having been crossed for so long. He walked up the stairs, to the boys dorm; Harry was right behind him.

Hermione closed her eyes as she fell against her bed, her head caressed by the soft pillow. She was thinking about Draco, and how his ivory hair had brushed his eyes, and he had swept it aside much like a super model. He was easily the most attractive boy she had ever known, in a distant, rude, snobbish way. He was also the person she really disliked. Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried her best to find sleep, but it evaded her. She kept thinking of how she had felt guilty, as if she was using Draco; hurting him. He deserved to be hurt, she told herself, but it still felt like a crime.

Ron collapsed against his bed a moment before Harry fell into his. Ron had a sense of worry pooling in his gut; worry for Hermione. Ron worried that Hermione would get herself in too deep, and there wouldn't be a way to help her find her way back. She was strong and brave and clever, but she was too keen to believe the best in people, and that could make her vulnerable to Draco. As far as Ron was concerned, Draco was bad, and there was no good in him; nothing that made him deserving of Hermione. Scowling, Ron rolled onto his side, telling himself to remember that Hermione was only pretending; Draco didn't have to be deserving of Hermione, because she would _never _feel anything but hatred for the Slytherin.

Harry smiled, feeling that Step One had been a success. He would have to think of what to do next, but he fell into sleep easily, with a triumphant feeling. He knew that it wouldn't be long until he knew whether Draco had joined the Death Eaters. Harry was already certain that Draco _had _joined them, but he wanted proof, evidence, and he would get it.

**_A/N: Hi, sorry for the incredibly slow update, but I just finished my GCSE exams (yay). Hope you enjoyed that chapter. I will try to post again soon. Bye, Kate. P.s. I'd really appreciate some reviews :) Thanks._**


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